The Internet has become increasingly complex, leaving many businesses vulnerable to malicious attacks. Every year, network security breaches cost businesses millions of dollars. Many businesses have responded to these threats by enhancing network security, through the use of firewalls. However, this relatively narrow response has proven insufficient. For example, a firewall may not adequately protect the business from email attacks, viruses, and other intrusions by unauthorized users.
Therefore, some businesses have attempted to further protect their computer systems, and content, by increasing the number and variety of network security tools, beyond firewalls. Such tools may include anti-viral probes, email scanners, network sniffers, local area network (LAN) analyzers, encryption tools, and intrusion detection systems.
However, such network security tools often require access to the network traffic of the business to probe for the presence of a security threat. As the number and types of network security tools grow within the business, throughput of the network traffic may decrease to an unacceptable level. Moreover, such growth of network security tools may strain many existing security architectures. Therefore, it is with respect to these considerations and others that the present invention has been made.